The Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS), Virtual Virginia, and Advanced Learning Partnerships (ALP) transformed statewide educator input into three adaptable courses and a locally led model for responsible classroom implementation.
Virginia’s school divisions faced a practical question: How could a small group of AI-informed leaders help thousands of educators use AI thoughtfully in teaching and learning?
Building on Virginia’s GenAI Year of Learning, the VASS, Virtual Virginia, and ALP created AI Part II: Into the Classroom. The initiative gives divisions a shared foundation for educator learning while leaving decisions about timing, facilitation, and local priorities in local hands.
Each partner brought a distinct strength. VASS coordinated statewide engagement and ownership. Virtual Virginia provided the learning platform and delivery infrastructure. ALP contributed instructional design, AI expertise, and implementation support. Together, they paired statewide reach with practitioner-centered design and division-led implementation.
A statewide sensing survey asked Virginia educators and leaders what they most needed to learn at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Their responses shaped the course pathway and its priorities; student data privacy emerged as the top concern.
ALP translated that input into three asynchronous courses: Understanding AI in Education, Using AI to Support Teaching, and Using AI for Learning. Guided by the ALP AI Competency Model for Teachers, the pathway moves from foundational literacy and responsible use to instructional design, classroom culture, student interaction, and evidence of learning. Classroom scenarios, reflection, and practical application keep the focus on educator judgment rather than any single tool.
More than 40 Virginia education leaders participated in a structured work group and reviewed every module for relevance, clarity, usability, accessibility, and fit with Virginia priorities. Virtual Virginia completed a statewide quality review, and ALP revised the courses in response to practitioner feedback before launch.
The courses were paired with editable implementation resources and 10 regional Train-the-Trainer sessions. Division teams learned how to facilitate the learning and adapt it within their own professional learning systems. The result was not a one-time outside training, but infrastructure divisions could continue to lead themselves.
These articles offer a glimpse of the course content.
As AI becomes more integrated into classrooms, educators need a deeper understanding of what constitutes student data and how privacy considerations extend beyond names and grades. This article explores common classroom scenarios and practical questions educators should consider before using AI tools.
AI is influencing education within the context of broader societal change. This article examines its impact on areas such as work, healthcare, creativity, communication, and civic life while helping educators consider the opportunities and responsibilities associated with those changes.
Developing AI literacy begins with understanding how AI systems function, where they are useful, and where human judgment remains essential. This article explains foundational concepts in accessible language and explores how educators can use AI to strengthen, rather than replace, professional expertise.
Virginia divisions are treating the courses as a connected pathway, not a stand-alone introduction. Among leaders who completed planning surveys:
96% plan to use Understanding AI in Education
92% plan to use Using AI to Support Teaching
86% plan to use Using AI for Learning
After the regional sessions, 141 division leaders shared strategies to use the courses through onboarding, professional learning days, PLCs, coaching, and district AI initiatives. Many selected more than one approach, showing how a common statewide resource can fit different local systems and needs.
What Division Leaders Hope to Achieve
Across their plans, leaders emphasized three outcomes: Greater teacher confidence in making instructional decisions about AI; Safer, more responsible classroom use; and Stronger student readiness to evaluate and use AI critically. Many also saw the courses as a foundation for broader division AI strategies.
Every division can begin with the same vetted learning while deciding how it fits local goals, policies, and professional learning structures.
The courses focus on instructional design, ethics, privacy, student learning, and evidence—not product training that can quickly become obsolete.
Train-the-Trainer support prepares division teams to lead the work. That expertise remains in the system and can grow as needs change.
Virginia’s approach offers a replicable lesson for state agencies, associations, consortia, and school systems: listen before designing, build with practitioners, use shared infrastructure, and equip local leaders to own implementation.
AI Part II: Into the Classroom extends Virginia’s AI learning from leadership awareness into classroom practice. For organizations seeking a statewide or regional professional learning model, ALP can help design a pathway that combines scale, instructional quality, and local ownership.
Read our related three-part blog series exploring featured content from this statewide professional learning partnership: What Counts as Student Data? Rethinking Privacy in the Age of AI, The Impact of AI on Our World, and Understanding AI to Make it Work for Us.
